Preview: Northampton vs Gloucester
Jim Mallinder has named five debutants in the Northampton side to face Gloucester in their opening game of the new Aviva Premiership.
Jim Mallinder has named five debutants in the Northampton side to face Gloucester in their opening game of the new Aviva Premiership season.
Tom May, Noah Cato, Martin Roberts, Paul Doran-Jones and Samu Manoa are all included in the run-on fifteen, while Mike Haywood, James Craig and Ryan Lamb could earn their first caps off the bench.
Saints start the season on the back of a strong pre-season campaign in which they defeated Russia, Toulouse and Leinster.
However, the Northampton Director of Rugby is not getting carried away.
“There is no room for any excuse on Sunday,” said Mallinder.
“Yes, we have had some good performances over the past few weeks. But as always there are plenty of things we have been concentrating on in training and once the Aviva Premiership Rugby season starts all of that pre-season work will be quickly forgotten if we don't get a positive result against Gloucester.
“Gloucester finished last season very well, winning the LV= Cup along the way, and they got a good result against Russia last week. Bryan Redpath is a good coach and he has some talented players available to him who have the ability to pose us plenty of problems.
“So we will need to be switched on and concentrate from the first whistle.”
Gloucester head to Franklin's Gardens without nine players through either injury or international duty and Bryan Redpath is well aware of the tough challenge they face.
“We've got to have confidence going in. It's going to be tough, Northampton are a good side. They're well respected and they're at home and will be desperate to get their season off to a good start,” said the Scot.
“We've got nine players unavailable because of internationals and long term injuries but we've got to get on with it. The players who are coming in are more than capable of competing.
“If we compete and perform with the characteristics that we expect of a Gloucester player then I can't really ask for a huge amount more.”
Peter Buxton will lead the Cherry and Whites in the absence of Luke Narraway.
Summer signing Dario Chistolini will make his debut for the club at tighthead while fellow newcomer Nathan Charles will be looking to get a run out off the bench.
One interesting selection is that of Lesley Vainikolo at inside centre, with the former England winger joining Jonny May in the midfield.
Form: Gloucester did the Premiership double over Saints last year for the first time since 2006/07, and have won on their last two visits to Franklin's Gardens – the other was beating Newcastle 34-7 there in the final of the Anglo-Welsh Cup in March. Northampton Saints have won their opening game of the new Premiership season for the past four years. The Saints won six of their last seven regular season games in Aviva Premiership Rugby last campaign. Gloucester Rugby won just two of their last six games in Aviva Premiership Rugby last season, and have not won on the road since their last visit to Franklin's Gardens on 26 February.
The teams:
Northampton: 15 Greig Tonks, 14 Paul Diggin,13 Tom May, 12 James Downey, 11 Noah Cato, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Martin Roberts, 8 Phil Dowson (capt), 7 Ben Nutley, 6 Calum Clark, 5 Mark Sorenson, 4 Samu Manoa, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Brett Sharman, 1 Paul Doran Jones.
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Alex Waler, 18 Tom Mercey, 19 Christian Day, 20 James Craig, 21 Stuart Commins, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Scott Armstrong.
Gloucester: 15 Olly Morgan, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Jonny May, 12 Lesley Vainikolo, 11 James Simpson-Daniel, 10 Tim Taylor, 9 Dave Lewis, 8 Brett Deacon, 7 Andy Hazell, 6 Peter Buxton (capt), 5 Alex Brown, 4 Will James, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Darren Dawidiuk, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Charles, 17 Dan Murphy, 18 Rupert Harden, 19 Tom Savage, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Nick Runciman, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Tom Voyce.
Date: Sunday, September 4
Venue: Franklin's Gardens
Kick-off: 15:30 (14:30 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Small